GAPS for T2 diabetes: ginger tea & lemonade

Monday, September 10, 2012

ginger tea & lemonade

Ginger Tea and Honey by dj345, on Flickr

Stage 1 GAPS requires both ginger tea and water with lemon (what the rest of us call lemonade!)

The only allowed sweeteners are raw honey and unrefined green stevia powder (Dr. Campbell-McBride is suspicious of the white refined powder).

As it happens, I have lots of dehydrated stevia from my garden, so that's covered, though it's available to buy when I run out. I have both raw honey (from my farmer's market) and a big pile of lemons (from a grocery sale) on hand. I will be picking up and pregrinding a bunch of fresh ginger root next week, though might move to dehydrated depending on how annoying this chore becomes.

And I have tea balls, though I originally got them for making bouquet garni in recipes calling for whole herbs.

All the recipes following are for 2 quarts, which I am considering 2 servings as I fill up my water bottle as few times as possible.

ginger tea with honey

For 2 servings, put 1 TB freshly grated ginger or 1/3 tsp dried ginger in a tea ball and place in saucepan with 1 quart water; bring to boil. Turn off heat and let sit for 10 minutes. Remove tea ball and stir in 1 TB raw honey.

ginger tea with stevia

For 2 servings, put 1 TB freshly grated ginger or 1/3 tsp dried ginger in a tea ball with 1/8 tsp green powdered stevia leaf. Place in saucepan with 1 quart water; bring to boil. Turn off heat and let sit for 10 minutes.

lemonade with honey

For 2 servings, slice a lemon in half, then each half into quarters. Squeeze each slice as you place in a 2-quart container. Fill halfway with tepid water, then stir in 1 TB honey. Add a tray of ice and cold water to fill.

lemonade with stevia

For 2 servings, slice a lemon in half, then each half into quarters. Squeeze each slice as you place in a 2-quart container. Fill halfway with tepid water, then stir in 1/8 tsp green powdered stevia leaf. Add a tray of ice and cold water to fill.

useful products

tea balls & other infusers		I like the kind of tea ball shown in the image. But at Mountain Rose Herbs, you can get everything from a pretty Celestial Tea Strainer to reusable cotton filter (also handy for straining infusions and oils) to disposable tea bags you fill yourself and many other options.
organic green stevia powder		This is what I'll be buying when my garden harvest is gone, it's stevia from Mountain Rose Herbs.
raw honey		The best way to get good honey is to buy locally; you can search at Local Harvest. If you are unable to get local raw honey, you can get it from Amazon.
organic dried ginger root		If you don't want to grind fresh root by hand, Mountain Rose Herbs has dried ginger root.
lemons		You definitely want organic lemons as you're using the entire lemon without peeling. Unless you live in the right area, you are unlikely to find organic lemons at a farmer's market near you. If they're not a local crop in your area and your grocery doesn't carry organic lemons, you can get them at at Amazon.